Last week I attended a rally at UTC, where the United Campus Workers are pushing for a $15 minimum wage for full-time and student employees. This would put them on par with their peers at other major universities in Tennessee, including UTK and the University of Memphis.
It was frustrating to hear these workers, many of whom were deemed “essential” during the pandemic, talk about their struggle to make ends meet on very low wages. But it was also empowering to see them stand up for themselves, and heartening to see the big crowd that had assembled on Chamberlain Field to cheer them on.
Also last week, I knocked doors in Harrison. It was late afternoon, and it seemed like every other person who answered the door had just finished their first job, ran home to grab food and maybe a shower, and was headed out to their second job. In Tennessee, where the minimum wage is still $7.25, most hourly workers need at least two full-time jobs to put a roof over their heads and food on the table.
One home had four generations living under one roof. It was the only way they could make it, the great-grandmother explained, even though every adult in the home had a full-time job. Her husband was still working full-time although he was nearly seventy. He was about to have surgery that would put him out of commission for three weeks. She was worried about how the family would manage without those three weeks’ pay.
Labor Day is a reminder that if we want fair wages and better working conditions, we have to fight for them. That includes fighting to get elected leaders who will work in the interest of working people.
Allison
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